Digital comics firm Graphic India raises $5 Mn led by Liquid Comics

Bengaluru-based character entertainment firm Graphic India has raised $5 million in a round led by Liquid Comics LLC with participation from other investors including Start Media LLC, 3One4 Capital, Julian Farrior, co-founder of Backflip Studios Inc., and Neeraj Bhargava, founder of Zodius Capital.

Graphic India, which was set up as a subsidiary of US-based Liquid Comics, will use the proceeds to launch new characters and launching new products.

In March 2015, it had raised $2.8 million in seed funding led by CA Media LP, which had earlier invested $2.5 million in the company in 2013.

Owned by U.S. comic book company, Liquid Comics, Graphic India was founded by Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra in 2012. It makes digital comics and animation content in partnership with celebrities and animators including Stan Lee, Amitabh Bachchan, Grant Morrison, S.S. Rajamouli, and Arka Mediaworks.

The company currently produces 200 episodes of animation across TV and digital platforms with premium global partners including Disney, Amazon Prime Video, Cartoon Network, Rovio, Viacom18 and others as well as live-action theatrical films in Hollywood, Bollywood, and China.

It has developed fantasy characters and shows, which can be streamed on portals like Prime Video and YouTube, and on TV channels like Disney and Viacom18’s Colors. The company also has a large library of digital comics and short-form content featuring stories and characters.

“Our mission at Graphic India is to create characters and stories that are uniquely Indian, but entertaining and inspiring to audiences around the world. India has the world’s largest youth population and its time it shared an equivalent portion of the annual multi-billion-dollar character entertainment industry,” said Devarajan, CEO Graphic India, reported TechCrunch.

Graphic India aims to transform India from outsourcer to source and plans to focus on more film, TV and web streaming deals while pushing its own subscription-based digital comic app, and looking into games, merchandising and even augmented reality and virtual reality opportunities.